


i.o.u.: one new arm

by delurks



Series: beyond the borderlands [4]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe, Borderlandscast, Gen, Guns, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 08:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4427657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delurks/pseuds/delurks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>let's just say that patching up a broken prosthetic arm isn't an easy task when there's a general lack of specialists and parts on pandora. also known as the one time when lalna's mechanical arm explodes. it's not pretty. what happens next will warm your heart. or break it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i.o.u.: one new arm

**Author's Note:**

> this beyond the borderlands chapter (FIRST ONE YEAH I KNOW IM JUST AS EXCITED AS YOU ARE) contains some graphic (but not too explicit) descriptions of attending to wounds. this chapter also features a character i've been wanting to write into borderlandscast for a while now. you may or may not be surprised at who it is.

The technical flies over a dip in the road, causing it to bounce on its suspension and rock wildly from side to side. Lalna concentrates on twisting the steering wheel to drive the technical back onto the road. For once, he is quiet, looking troubled. This is such a rare event that Rythian and Nanosounds exchange worried glances. Lalna being quiet for over an hour isn't something to laugh at, considering his inclination for mischief and out oud observations. 

Nanosounds pings Lalna on her ECHO, thinking it might be driving fatigue. It takes Lalna a few seconds longer than usual for him to notice the ECHO notification to switch before climbing out of his seat. He lets the technical's control kick in momentarily, the technical never slowing once. Nanosounds expertly rolls out of the turret seat so Lalna can hop into it as she slides into the driver's seat and taking control of the technical.

Rythian just watches this exchange take place with a neutral expression, waiting until Lalna's settled into the turret before pinging Lalna to get his attention. Lalna peers down at him through his goggles as the technical lurches forwards due to Nanosounds feeling as if it's not going fast enough for her liking. 

"It's not like you to be quiet," Rythian says lightly, satisfied that the switch had occurred without disaster (compared to the first time). Lalna doesn't say anything for a long while, watching the landscape blur past and the dust kick up behind the technical. Rythian's gaze levels on Lalna again before he looks down and away at the half-cleaned gun in his hands. 

"What do you do if you hurt somebody and you want to apologize but what if they won't accept so things just end up becoming worse between you two?" Lalna says all this in one rushed and jumbled sentence. It sounds like he's been sitting on it for quite some time. Rythian chooses to remain silent since this isn't exactly his social forte (he would atone until his bones crumble to dust).

"It depends on what you did," Nanosounds says from the front, having judged Rythian's silence as her cue to step in. "And how bad it was in the first place."

"On a scale of one to ten, with ten being really, really bad and one being super minor," Lalna pauses to fire off a buzzsaw at a passing spiderant which is cut cleanly into two wet halves and keels over with blood oozing into the ground, "I'd say this is about a seven."

"That's pretty bad," Nanosounds observes, her tone not changing from a casual one as if they're discussing the weather. "Are they the type to forgive?"

"Yes and no? I mean, I've done some things in the past but they were about a three to four on the scale and they've sort of forgiven me for those, but this one really," Lalna utters a short bark of laughter that sounds somewhat pained, "Takes the cake."

The fingers of Lalna's mechanical hand are gripping the turret's controls with slightly more force than necessary, creasing the leather and metal under the force of his grip. It's not going to cause permanent damage, so he doesn't draw attention to it. Still, he wonders if Lalna's aware of it.

"How long ago did it happen?" Nanosounds twirls the wheel to power slide around a curve in the road. Rythian's hand reaches out to steady himself on the technical's back frame as his other hand hangs onto his gun. He lets go when Nanosounds eases the technical into a slower speed suitable for navigating the winding mountainous roads they're on.

"Years ago," Lalna admits. Nanosounds takes his answer in stride as she responds.

"If you've spent all this time reflecting on your actions, then I'd say that you deserve a chance at forgiveness. It's not an easy step to take first and especially when you know that you're in the wrong."

Lalna nods, appearing to listen intently.

"I used to fight with my Mother all the time about what she wanted me to do and what I wanted but we eventually forgave each other since it was a difficult time in my life. I understood that she just wanted the best for me." Nanosounds drums her fingers on the steering wheel in thought. "She's also the only family I have left, which sort of complicated things." She could have added 'and it still does', but doesn't. 

Rythian detects exasperated affection in her voice nonetheless. He still remains silent as Nanosounds continues, "So if your situation is the same, it's worth a shot at apologizing and see what happens from there. It's better than not apologizing and continuing to agonize over it?"

"I see." Lalna looks contemplative. "Thanks, that really helps."

"I should also add that you probably shouldn't be standing near them if they have sharp implements nearby to throw at you when you apologize," Nanosounds adds. "Just in case they're not quite in a forgiving mood."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lalna laughs, his laugh sounding less sullen.

"If they're kind of an asshole, don't even bother," Rythian notes dryly but drops the dryness from his tone as he continues, "But I agree with Nano. Rather than just letting the problem fester, take steps to fix it rather than leaving it until it's too late to do so."

"Are you speaking from personal experience?" Lalna peers down at Rythian. 

Rythian shrugs. "Somewhat." 

Lalna opens his mouth to say something but a frown crosses his face. He peers at his mechanical arm as if he's just noticed his iron grip on the turret's handles. He lets go of the turret, lifting his hand up to his face to flex the metal digits, turning his hand this way and that before he eventually sighs and rests it on the edge of the seat, careful not to dent it by gripping it too hard.

"Can we stop at the next town? I think I need to buy a new toolkit to calibrate my hand. It's been acting up ever since I got it caught in that tesla grenade back there."

"It also might be worth restocking our inventories. We're running low on ammo and supplies," Rythian muses out loud. "Nanosounds? You mind setting a course to the nearest town?"

"Sure, you're the boss," Nanosounds replies, taking them onto a road to the nearest civilization instead of heading back to Sanctuary Hole. "I'll let Will know we'll be a little late."

\--

They're in a small town with an estimated population of forty-five people, according to the faded sign posted out on the highway. Rythian and Nanosounds buy enough food to last them a week from the well-stocked general store (run by a couple of wide-eyed townsfolk who regard them warily but don't refuse the money Rythian and Nanosounds offer as payment).

After loading up their inventories almost to the brink with the supplies and ammo, they both look around for Lalna. Lalna had left them in front of the store to find a place that sells replacement parts. It's such a small town that nothing could have happened to Lalna, but it's disconcerting that he hasn't come back to them yet. A plethora of consequences runs through both Rythian and Nanosounds minds.

"Should we look for him?" Nanosounds poses the question to Rythian while looking somewhat worried. Rythian nods in silent agreement. The two turn the corner of the store and run into Lalna. 

"Excuse me," Lalna says politely, stepping sideways to neatly avoid a collision. At their confused stares, he frowns.

He's dressed differently. He's wearing a lab coat that's buttoned all the way up instead of wearing it around his waist. There's a surgical mask in addition to a set of goggles hanging around his neck. His boots don't have neon laces and aside from other minor differences in clothing, Lalna looks exactly like he usually does. Except. Something bothers Rythian, but Rythian doesn't say it out loud, looking Lalna up and down. 

He can't quite put his finger on it.

"Since when did you change your clothes?" Nanosounds asks once she's finished taking in Lalna's new appearance, one of her hands curling into a fist. Rythian places a hand on her shoulder as if to warn her to curb her temper and vaguely hoping there's some sort of logical explanation for this.

"I haven't changed anything." Lalna takes a wary step backwards, putting his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "Do I know you two?" He gives them a long, steady once-over, suspicion beginning to cloud his gaze and tone.

"Lalna, it's us. Nanosounds and Rythian." She helplessly gestures to herself, then at Rythian with her non-tattooed hand. "If something's happened to you in this town, I'll-"

Rythian squeezes her shoulder in further warning, choosing that moment to speak up. "You're not Lalna, are you?"

Lalna's (or rather, the person who's not Lalna but looks exactly like Lalna) eyes widen a fraction. They take several steps back as if Rythian and Nanosounds have drawn guns, their hands withdrawing from their pockets to fan their palms out in a placating gesture. 

"Of course not," They say, their tone shifting to one of mild panic. "I-"

"There you two are. Sorry I took forever, but there's no place that sells parts in town-" Lalna turns the corner, almost bumping into Rythian but swerves around him just in time. Upon seeing the person who looks and sounds exactly like him, Lalna stops in his tracks, his mouth falling open. He darts a glance at Rythian and Nanosounds, taking in their shock before his gaze returns to the other Lalna. 

"Lalnable?" Lalna breathes, blinking several times as if he can't believe it. He snaps his mouth shut, looking skeptical.

"Lalna," Lalnable says coolly with a hint of disdain embedded in their tone, their panic gone. Something in Nanosounds gut twists painfully at Lalnable's tone. "It's good to see you." There's a coldness to Lalnable's gaze as it rests on Lalna. It sends a chill up Rythian's spine.

Lalnable's hands return to their pockets and the faint clink of metal sounds, though none of them pay attention to it, especially Rythian and Nanosounds who look from Lalna to Lalnable, both of their minds still struggling to make sense of the situation. Lalna just gives a sudden brilliant and happy grin, oblivious to Lalnable's reception of him.

"Lalnable!" Lalna darts forward to stand next to Lalnable. "I didn't know you were on Pandora! You should have ECHOed me! We haven't talked in ages."

"Considering the last time we talked and how it poorly it ended, I didn't see any reason to contact you again," Lalnable notes dryly. Lalna's face falls for a brief second. Anyone who isn't familiar with Lalna would have missed it. Rythian and Nanosounds notice however, right before Lalna is grinning again as if the jab didn't hurt him at all. "Also, I didn't know you were here on Pandora." 

Lalnable's gaze flickers over to Rythian and Nanosounds before it goes back to Lalna.

"I had a job to do but it kind of got put on hold," Lalna explains. Rythian would have been impressed at the deft change in subject at any other time. "What about you?" Lalna shoots an inquiring look at Lalnable, curiosity in his eyes.

"Well, in comparison to you skipping out on yours, I have unavoidable and important jobs to do." Lalnable moves to walk past them and out of Lalna's reach, though pauses next to Nanosounds and Rythian to comment one last time without looking at Lalna. 

"Besides, I see your acquaintances are waiting for you, so I shan't take up more of your time." This comes over his shoulder and the callous disregard (not even a proper goodbye) in it invokes roiling twinges of fury in Rythian and Nanosounds' guts.

As Lalnable passes Nanosounds, he presses something into her hand without breaking his stride. She glances down at the card he'd slipped her with a neat series of letters and numbers printed on the back. She opens her mouth to say something, but Lalnable turns the corner, vanishing out sight altogether. Her gaze snaps back to Lalna. 

Lalna's hand is outstretched as if he'd been ready to tell Lalnable to wait. His hand falls to his side. Lalna heaves a dejected sigh, shoulders slumping and his green eyes flicker shut in disappointment. 

Rythian moves to stand next to him. "Want to tell us what that was all about?" His tone is kind and patient for once with none of his usual grouchiness.

While he's comforting Lalna, Nanosounds examines the card Lalnable had passed her. She pieces the surgical mask, buttoned up lab coat and Lalnable's clinical mannerisms together, guessing that's Lalnable is a doctor of some sort and he's just handed her the coordinates to where he lives on Pandora. She's not sure why he's just handed her the card instead of directly giving it to Lalna. 

She gets the feeling that this relates to what Lalna had asked about earlier. She senses that now's not an appropriate time to ask about what had gone down between the two and why Lalnable is treating Lalna with a cold shoulder. After noting down the coordinates in her HUD, she tosses the card into a lit barrel like its ominous, heavy with unsaid words and feelings not meant for her. 

The card curls up, blackening as the flames devour it. She moves to take Lalna by the hand to lead him back to the technical, putting the card at the back of her mind.

As it turns out, Lalna has a twin brother. Younger and specializing in surgery. He'd become a doctor while Lalna had chosen to become an engineer and scientist. The differences in their careers is couldn't be more pronounced, with Lalnable choosing to operate on patients of the organic kind and Lalna preferring patients of the robotic and mechanical kind.

Lalna doesn't elaborate beyond that, changing the subject so abruptly to where they're headed next. It leaves Rythian and Nanosounds even more curious. They take the hint that Lalna doesn't want to talk about it and instead, consult their map of Pandora to set a course back to Sanctuary Hole at last.

\--

Given the lack of parts in the previous town, Lalna wavers back and forth between outsourcing help (even if it drains his savings down to a pitiful amount) to get his arm fixed. He also brings up the option of doing the job himself despite the risks involved (like accidentally disabling it, for starters). The grip of his arm been either too weak or too strong as of late, leading to several incidents where he's just dropped things on accident or inadvertently crushed them in his grip.

He claims he can still shoot, provided he uses his remaining hand to aim and pull the trigger considering it's his dominant hand. He keeps putting off seeking help for it despite their gentle reminders, his stubbornness drawing more concern from the other Vault Hunters, Will Strife especially. 

While Lalna's combing the ECHOnet for possible places to buy parts with Will Strife on the line, Nanosounds pulls Rythian aside and out of earshot. The card's weighed on her mind in the past two hours or so while they'd been on the road. 

"Lalnable gave you the coordinates to his clinic?" Rythian can't help but sound skeptical. Nanosounds sends him the coordinates. He checks and sure enough, where the Happy Pig Motel in the Three Horns Valley once stood, there's an entirely new building there instead. 

It hadn't been there when he and Lalna had passed the motel during their first time to Three Horns Valley, so it probably had sprung up in the meantime (indicating that Lalnable hadn't been around on Pandora for that long).

"If Lalna's arm doesn't get any better, should we tell him to visit Lalnable's clinic?" Nanosounds asks, making sure that Lalna is still occupied with Will Strife who is jotting down names of parts in between nagging Lalna to get his arm checked out. "It's worth a shot."

"We can't exactly pressure him into it, considering the way Lalnable treated him," Rythian warns her in hushed tone. "We'll talk to him about it tomorrow. It's getting late and we need to make camp."

"Fine," Nanosounds concedes, though she's unhappy about having to delay it. She tries not to let it show on her face, forcing a brittle smile onto her face as Lalna cuts his ECHO call to Will and turns to her, asking what she wants for dinner, none the wiser about her and Rythian having the coordinates to Lalnable's clinic.

\--

It starts with a stray wire dangling from Lalna's arm (no time to tuck it back in) as he'd brought it up to defend himself from a flurry of bullets coming from a bandit camp they're trying to eliminate. The bullets make short work of Lalna's shield.

Lalna's shield explodes in a nova of blue crackling electricity. It washes harmlessly over Rythian, who is in the middle of reloading his sniper rifle, back pressed against the wall. Lalna rises from behind cover to reload and shoot. Rythian tosses his last grenade in the direction of the remaining bandits when a flicker of orange out of the corner of his eye catches his attention. He turns his head to look at the source. 

Shock graces his features as his world lights up for one second in a flash of white and the sound of a miniature explosion. 

Shrapnel flies out in every direction, leaving what's left of Lalna's arm completely exposed, sparking circuits and loose wires dangling from his shoulder socket and scorched shirt sleeve. Lalna stares down at it in wonder as if he's surprised it didn't happen sooner, one of his sides beginning to spot with blood. 

He looks at Rythian, his eyes wide. Rythian is already turning to him, his gun disappearing into his inventory as he stoops low to heft Lalna into a fireman's carry with a pained grunt and straightens up, shouting at Nanosounds to retreat.

Nanosounds lets out an inhuman roar, charging forwards into the fray and ignoring his request to retreat, clearly intent on finishing the job. 

Rythian snaps his eyes shut against the purple light that blazes from her direction, knowing that when she's this angry, there'll be no trace of the bandits once she's done (and their job is finished, just like that but it's the least of his concerns). 

Rythian is already at the technical by the time she emerges from the bandit camp, the last of the purple light fading from her Siren markings. The rage on her face is replaced by fear, concern and determination at all once upon seeing Lalna in the back of the technical, barely stirring.

She leaps into the driver's seat after ordering Rythian to get Lalna comfortable and to bandage him up as best as he can. She barely waits for Rythian to climb into the back before taking off down the road, causing Rythian's back to bang painfully into the back of the technical as he pulls Lalna's head into his lap and starts assessing the damage under Lalna's shirt.

More blood is beginning to seep through Lalna's shirt on the right side of his body where slick pieces of metal are sticking out from where they're jutting out of Lalna's side in multiple places. Rythian knows better than to try to remove them while they're both bouncing around in the back of the technical for fear of causing further damage. Rythian digistructs his spare coat and tucks it under Lalna's head to provide a makeshift pillow. 

Lalna is breathing erratically, drawing in pained breaths, the rise and fall of his chest irregular. He is far too still, teetering on the edge between consciousness and unconsciousness. Rythian can already see the whites of his eyes when he pulls the goggles from Lalna's head to tuck them into his inventory for safe-keeping. Rythian digistructs a roll of bandages..

His hands are shaking (not from Nanosounds driving) as he unrolls a wad, pressing it against a large cut and watching the fabric slowly turn a bright red under his fingers. He instinctively knows where Nanosounds is headed, no argument on his lips because at this moment, it's their only hope at saving Lalna. They both hope they're not too late as she brings the technical to a screeching halt in front of their destination, dawn beginning to break out over the horizon. 

Nanosounds bangs on the door with a fist and denting the metal, shouting for Lalnable to answer the door. 

Five seconds later, Lalnable answers the door, blinking groggily at them. He silently takes in the blood on Rythian's front and hands, finally spotting an unconscious, pale and unmoving Lalna in the back of the technical. He purses his lips into a tight line and motions with a bare hand for them to come in, the door swinging wide open to admit them. 

Rythian follows, hefting Lalna into his arms as gently as he can, Lalna inhaling sharply as being moved. Nanosounds closes the door behind them. 

It's too dark indoors. Rythian's eyes automatically shift into night vision, casting a green glow on everything, including Lalnable's moving form ahead of them. He veers left through a door. Lalnable finally instructs Rythian to put Lalna down onto a stainless steel table, causing Lalna to stir lightly with a small groan of pain. Lalnable is already pulling on a pair of surgical gloves, the rubber snapping against his wrists.

"Get out, I have work to do," Lalnable orders. Without a word, Rythian and Nansounds both draw their guns and point them at him. Lalnable just pauses, giving them a faint look of annoyance. 

"Fine, but don't get in my way," He finally mutters, turning to Lalna. "If you have the energy to point guns at me, then do me a favor and fetch these." He proceeds to rattle of a list of items and their location off the top of his head. Nanosounds rushes to obey while Rythian watches to make sure Lalnable doesn't try anything, still wary of how he'd treated Lalna before.

Lalnable runs his hand under the charred sleeve of Lalna's shirt and over Lalna's metallic shoulder, gloved fingers searching until with a 'faint click' and 'hiss', he detaches the remains of Lalna's arm from the shoulder socket. He proceeds to carelessly toss the destroyed arm onto a nearby workbench. 

It lands with a hollow metallic ring that echoes in the room before tense silence replaces it.

Lalnable digistructs scissors which he uses to cut away Lalna's shirt. He peels it away and off Lalna's body to inspect the damage. Rythian and Nanosounds look away briefly. Lalnable raises an eyebrow at the shoddy patchwork of bandages laid out over the various wounds, some of the bandages already completely soaked through with blood. 

Rythian wants to comment that it's not easy bandaging someone while in the back of a technical, on top of trying to make Lalna comfortable and keep him awake, but he stays quiet, afraid that if he speaks, Lalnable's concentration will be broken and Lalna will die.

He doesn't want Lalna to die, Nanosounds sharing that sentiment (and if Will had known, Will would have probably been in mutual agreement with the two of them).

So he holds his breath and breathes out in relief as Lalnable chooses not to say anything, simply removing the bloody bandages, tossing them into an empty tray on the trolley next to him. Numerous sterile rags and cotton balls join the bandages as Lalnable finishes mopping up excess blood with them at the edges of the largest wounds before pulling out tweezers. 

Lalnable leans over Lalna's side, brows furrowing in utmost concentration as he begins to search for shrapnel pieces sticking out of Lalna's side.

Nanosounds appears by his side, placing another empty metal tray on the trolley. Lalnable gives only a nod of acknowledgment (no thanks spoken or needed). Lalnable fishes out four various sized pieces of curved, jagged, slick pieces of metal of various sizes, neither gentle nor rough in his extraction, simply efficient and quick.

Metal fragments land in the bowl one after another with echoing clangs. Time appears to slow to a crawl as Lalnable continues fishing out fragments, cleaning up after every single extraction where he can, so intent on his task that he doesn't notice Nanosounds leaving to go explore.

Satisfied after a prolonged inspection that there are no further pieces of metal in Lalna's side, Lalnable starts stitching up Lalna's wounds, fingers deftly working the black thread and needle in and out of flesh. Lalna is so unconscious that he barely registers Lalnable's handiwork. The fingers of his remaining hand twitches every now and then in response. What Lalnable can't stitch up, bandages are applied.

When Lalnable stands up, their back and shoulders loudly crack as he stretches, a bloody gloved hand coming up to smother a yawn. He finally remembers that Rythian and Nanosounds are present in the room, casting a tired look in their direction as the pent-up tension draws out of their frames now that he's done. 

Lalnable's eyes lands on the dried blood caking Rythian's front and hands. Lalnable sighs, pulling off their stained gloves to discard them in a nearby bin before pulling on a new pair.

Rythian startles, stepping back, muttering a half-hearted reassurance under Lalnable's intense gaze, "I'm fine, it's just Lalna's blood."

"Let me have a look anyway." Lalnable takes Rythian by the elbow, hustling him into a room off the side. Rythian throws a look in Nanosounds direction, but she's by Lalna's side, covering him up with a clean woolly blanket she's dug up from somewhere and cleaning up his face with a damp cloth. Lalna's unconscious, probably still in pain but he's alive and that's what matters.

Lalnable closes the door to the room, looking displeased at Rythian's resistance. The fight goes out of Rythian in the next instance; the previously tense hours are finally taking their toll on him (and everyone in the clinic). He just takes off his coat, dropping it onto the bench behind him before pulling his shirt up and over his head, careful not to dislodge his scarf or trinket. His chest is level with Lalnable's face despite him sitting down on the bench. 

To Lalnable's credit, he just doesn't even bat an eye, stare or anything of the sort, simply maneuvering Rythian's arm out of the way so he can inspect Rythian's side. 

Rythian spares a downward glance at what draws his attention and what he sees gives him pause. It's a mess of dried blood, metallic bits and brown skin. He hadn't even felt anything at the time but when he dredges up his memory, he had been standing right next to Lalna at the time. Now that he's aware of his own injuries, Rythian can feel pinpricks of pain beginning to resonate from his side.

Lalnable just 'tsks', rising to open the door of the room and leaves, returning shortly with new tweezers, needle, black thread, another empty tray, tape and bandages. He kicks a chair over and takes a seat in front of Rythian. 

He works on Rythian with the same intensity as he had on Lalna, only stopping every now and then to yawn into his elbow or clean Rythian's wounds. Rythian grits his teeth, muffling any sound of pain. He's determined to not budge and cause Lalnable to lose his focus as every bit of metal is pulled out of him by Lalnable, none too gently but somehow without tearing apart his skin any further. 

Blood oozes slowly from the gaps left behind with nothing to stem the flow until Lalnable patches them up. He ties together the horizontal wounds and simply applies a bandage to the ones he can't use the black thread on. 

By the time he's done, Rythian no longer feels like somebody's driven a knife into his side multiple times, a dull ache simply throbbing gently in his side every few seconds.

Lalnable puts a bloody gloved hand on the table and tries to stand up, wobbling slightly from having been seated for so long. Rythian reaches out, catching him by the elbow, steadying him. Their eyes meet and Rythian lets go as soon as Lalnable stands up straight. 

"There's a sink in the corner. Make yourself at home," is the only thing Lalanable says with evident effort to not appear exhausted in front of Rythian. He turns around and walks out of the room, tossing his bloody gloves into the bin on his way out.

Nanosounds walks in after him, carrying a plastic cup of water. 

She raises both eyebrows at Rythian's bare chest and frowns at his injury before a tired though cheeky grin unfurls on her face, making no effort to hide her staring. When she meets his eyes next, Rythian dives for his shirt, scrambling to put it on. Once that's done, he takes the offered cup of water. She turns around to give him a moment to pull down the scarf to sip the water, mumbling his thanks. 

He does his best to appear nonchalant rather than reveal that right there and then, exhaustion is gnawing at his bones and mind, sapping the last of his strength reserves. He doesn't remember washing Lalna's blood off his hands, gathering his coat, walking out of the room and into another before passing out on one of the spare beds in there. In between all of that, he thinks he must have moved Lalna into one of the spare beds to save Lalnable the effort. 

Nanosounds also proceeds to pass out in one of the spare beds without removing her boots.

Rythian remembers that he has to call Will to tell him but he's asleep before he can digistruct his ECHO to do so.

\--

His dreams are mercifully silent.

\--

Rythian wakes up to feeling someone's hands on his side, rubber gloved fingers tracing the edge of his bandages, pressing against his bare skin under his shirt. He lashes out with an elbow. His sleep addled mind catches up a moment later when his elbow painfully collides with someone's chest, eliciting a surprised and pained grunt from someone.

He opens his eyes to see Lalnable rub where Rythian's elbow had hit him in the chest. Lalnable gives him a look of pure annoyance. Rythian sits up, the sudden movement causing pain to dart up all along his side and causing him to clutch at the area.

"Normal people usually don't elbow their doctor in lieu of 'good morning'," Lalnable points out. 

Rythian suppresses the urge to elbow him again, this time in the face, but wryly responds with, "You shouldn't have had your hands up my shirt."

"For all I saw, you were dead to the world and besides, your bandages needed changing." Lalnable says, gesturing to Rythian's side.

Rythian looks down to where his shirt has ridden up, the bandages spotted with pink and dark red spots. Since he doesn't want to admit that Lalnable has a very valid point, he just moves to the edge of the bed to swing his legs out over the side. 

"I can change them myself, thanks." He doesn't bother to keep the dislike out of his voice, not caring if he comes off as rude.

Lalnable places some painkillers, fresh bandages and medical tape on the bed next to him, shrugging. "Suit yourself. Just make sure you haven't torn your stitches open. You know where to find me if that happens." He leaves the room. 

Rythian changes his bandages in fuming silence before Lalnable's warning comes back to him. He braces himself, sparing a cautious check on his stitches. Much to his relief, the tiny rows of black thread are unbroken and hold firm. If Rythian lifts his arm high, he can feel the stitches hold and tug on his skin, an uncomfortable sensation but one he can tolerate.

Given Lalnable's meticulous handiwork, Rythian comes to the conclusion that Lalnable is an asshole who is unfortunately, very good at stitching people up. He tucks the unused bandages and painkillers into his inventory for later, rising to his feet in search of Lalna, who's since disappeared from the room. 

After going down the wrong corridor (it'd ended in a dead end and a bunch of closed doors) and returning to the room he'd fallen asleep in earlier, Rythian walks past a door that's propped open with a familiar face seated at the table inside the room.

"Rythian!" Rythian turns his head and spies Lalna through the open doorway. Lalna's dressed in a clean shirt and jeans, sans his lab coat. Come to think of it, Lalnable hadn't been wearing a lab coat either when he'd answered the door earlier or when he'd checked up on Rythian.

Lalna waves his remaining hand at him before beckoning him closer. He points to the coffee machine on one of the benches. "There's actually coffee here! By the way, Nanosounds is off on a supply run."

Rythian searches for a mug in his inventory, actually surprised he has two of them. He hasn't used them for a while but he knows they're clean. Rythian barely remembers how he likes his coffee, fiddling with the machine's settings before watching the machine rattle and hum before dispensing it. 

After a moment, he digistructs his remaining mug, asking Lalna how he likes his coffee before letting the machine work once more. He takes the mugs, setting Lalna's in front of him on the table and taking a look around the room while his coffee's cooling. 

He suspects this room is the kitchen because of the coffee machine. If it weren't for the coffee machine, it would have been identical to the other rooms he's been in, given the clutter (if clutter can somehow be neat and organized) befitting a clinic spread out on almost every surface save the table Lalna's sitting at.

Rythian takes a seat next to Lalna. The clutter actually reminds him of Zoeya and he has to suppress a fond smile to peer at Lalna instead. 

"Are you okay?" Rythian asks, attempting to find some hint of pain or discomfort on Lalna's face. "Here, these are yours." He pulls Lalna's goggles out of his inventory, sliding them across the table towards Lalna. Lalna puts them away with grateful nod.

"Nope, I'm fine. Actually, I'm feeling a bit loopy from painkillers, but that's okay." Lalna chuckles as if to prove the point before looking contemplative. "Well, I need a new arm, but Lalnable's putting it together now."

"Lalnable." The name flatly rolls off Rythian's tongue. It's the first time he's ever deigned to say it. It feels strange, to address somebody who shares a part of their name with Lalna and yet, acts and behaves differently to him. 

"You called?" Lalnable walks into the room with a holographic panel held in one hand. Rythian watches Lalnable with renewed wariness. Lalnable hands what's he's holding to Lalna, whose eyes light up with interest at whatever is detailed on it. "I wanted to run diagnostics on your eyes while you were out cold, but Lalna convinced me it was better to wait until you were wide awake." 

Rythian stares at him with unconcealed, renewed dislike. "I would have done more than elbow you if you'd tried to."

Lalnable watches him with mild interest for a few seconds. Rythian meets his stare head-on until Lalnable breaks it by looking away. He eventually moves around the table to pour himself coffee, his words floating over his shoulder. "I suppose so, considering I don't want to be sporting bruises all over rather than just the one you gave me."

"Did Rythian hit you?" Lalna's head snaps up from examining the panel, shooting Rythian a pure look of dismay. He turns to Lalnable next, Rythian weathering the accusation with some degree of hurt, keeping his expression neutral. "Rythian!"

"Forgiven already. It's my fault for not making sure he wasn't completely knocked out first." Lalnable gives him an all-too pleasant smile. 

Rythian is forced to remind himself that Lalnable's just saved Lalna's life and by extension, his own; he can handle whatever Lalnable throws his way, though for how much longer, he's not sure. He's about to respond when Lalna's warm hand finds his own under the table, giving his fingers a reassuring squeeze. 

He looks at Lalna, surprised. Lalna is wearing a 'just bear with it a little longer' look. When Lalnable turns around though, he lets go of Rythian's hand, a lone finger scrolling down the panel propped upright on a cardboard box in front of him and focusing entirely on whatever is on the panel, brow furrowing with concentration. 

"I think we should go with the updated version of my old arm and I'll tweak it later," He directs his comment largely at Lalnable, but underneath, Rythian senses strained patience in his tone. It's petty of him, but he finds reassurance in the fact that even Lalna can't stand his twin. 

Lalna looks far too surprised though when Lalnable just leans over his shoulder to look at the model and just nods his approval, leaving them alone to go order Lalna's new arm. Why did Lalna look like he'd expected a disparaging remark from Lalnable? There are other questions racing around Rythian's mind, each one of them burning. 

Lalna shoots him an apologetic grin. Rythian sighs, excusing himself to go hunt skags. He picks up the mug, taking it outside with him. He's indifferent to the taste of coffee, pulling down his scarf to sip it slowly until the mug is empty. He tosses it into his inventory before heading off, digistructing his sniper rifle and dialing Nanosounds on his ECHO once he's walked a sufficient distance from the clinic.

\--

Nanosounds answers his call with the sound of whistling wind and the rumble of a technical engine hard at work.

"Rythian! Sorry I wasn't there to see you get up, I had to make a trip to Sanctuary Hole for some food and things for Lalnable. How are you and Lalna? Stopped bleeding yet?" She has to shout to be heard, but Rythian just turns down the volume of the call down slightly, already cheered by the sound of her voice. 

"Mostly. Lalna's working with his twin on his new arm. He seems fine since he's up and about now," Rythian reports, not bothering to suppress the relief in his voice. 

"That's good! The sooner we can leave, the better." Her comment is accompanied with what sounds like skags being crushed beneath the technical's wheels, the loud crunch of their hides and pained, shrill calls proving delicious, familiar sounds to Rythian's ears. He's wishing he'd accompanied her, though it couldn't be helped given his earlier status.

"You don't like Lalnable either?"

"It's not that I dislike him, it's just the fact that he's so..." Nanosounds pauses, searching for the right word.

"Insufferable?" Rythian helpfully supplies.

"That's it! I've met nicer people who're just as insufferable as he is, but he's just so off-putting." Another crunch, followed by Nanosounds gleeful shouting of, "Eat it! You were saying?" 

He decides against telling her, though ultimately decides she deserves to know to avoid risking her future wrath at being kept in the dark. Also, she's his friend and he trusts that she wouldn't punch Lalnable (not without consulting him first) the moment she gets back. 

"Well Nano, you'll be glad to know I elbowed him earlier by accident, but he had his hand up my shirt while I was asleep."

"You do have a nice chest, so I don't blame him for copping a feel," She starts, giggling in the middle of her sentence before trailing off. If they'd been talking in person, his mind conjures up an imagine of her looking far too amused, nudging him and winking. It's not an image he enjoys, considering it's at his expense. 

Just as her implications finally sink in, Rythian rushes to correct her, inwardly cursing that he sounds a touch distressed, "It's not like that!" 

He pulls the trigger of his sniper rifle far too early and skewing his shot. Teep would have shaken their head for missing such an easy shot.

His shot buries itself in the ground just to the left of his target skag, who just sniffs the air and continues rooting around in the dirt with a paw. He'd checked the weather conditions beforehand so he's positioned downwind, not too worried about skags catching his scent and homing in on him with their entire pack in tow. 

He ducks down behind a rock and slowly reloads his rifle, painfully aware that normal people didn't get that hilariously attached to this degree to people that they've been traveling around with for weeks now. He snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of his name being called.

"Rythian? Hello, are you there? I heard shots. You're not getting into trouble now, are you?" She sounds suspicious and as if she's speeding up, the frame of the truck rattling like it's coming apart on the inside. Rythian's imagination conjures up a flaming wreckage on the side of the road, given that Pandora's roads aren't usually in pristine condition.

"Sorry, was just shooting skags for meat." To be fair, it's not far from the truth. "Don't rush back here on my account, I don't want you to get into an accident and have to be fixed up as well and by Lalnable of all people," He tries his best to sound fine while his stomach is churning over possibly becoming just a little bit too attached; he'll have to work on that (because all good things come to an end at some point).

A few tense seconds pass. Just when he thinks about how he'll break the news about her incoming death by speeding to Lalna and Will, she eases off the accelerator so that the truck no longer sounds as if it'd come apart from being urged on by a very worried Nanosounds. 

It's the last thing he needs, Nanosounds being hurt alongside Lalna, Rythian being powerless to prevent it from happening. It didn't mean he would stop taking measures though, even if it meant appearing like a wet blanket and skittish in their eyes. 

"I was joking earlier." Rythian suppresses a groan when he belatedly realizes she thinks that he's upset at her joking. "If you need me to make sure he won't do it again though, I'm more than happy to make sure he knows." She cracks a knuckle on the steering wheel, the sound far too loud through his ECHO.

"It's fine, I think he knows that he won't be trying again." Rythian peers down the sight and pulls the trigger, nailing a skag in the head and watching it keel over, its long pink tongue lolling out as it hits the ground, dead. Nanosounds cuts the ECHO call after bidding him goodbye and saying she'll be there soon.

His HUD pings five minutes later. Will Strife is calling him. Rythian sighs and answers, hoping that Nanosounds hasn't just called Will to ask him to check up on him. 

"I just wanted to check up on you just to make sure you're not upset at Nanosounds for her teasing you," Will says bluntly. Rythian appreciates his honesty, but really. 

"I'm not upset at her teasing," Rythian says, pleased that he sounds calm. 

"Right. I'm glad that's sorted." Rythian ignores the skepticism in his tone. "You know, she contacted me worrying about it. I told her that you're made of sterner stuff but she wouldn't have any of it." Will is silent for a second or two before he speaks up again, sounding sheepish this time. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you two with Lalna."

"Will, sometimes we have to split up to cover more ground and jobs," Rythian teleports a skag's body closer to him so he can start skinning it before the other skags pick up on the smell of a free meal and a chance to chase him. "So don't blame yourself for not being there."

"I sort of do," Will says. "If I'd just gotten the parts Lalna asked for and finished the job sooner, I could have met up with you three and done something to help."

"I doubt your expertise includes knowing how to stitch up someone, so I don't think you being there would have changed much," Rythian says carefully.

"I guess?" There's the tiniest pause as Will appears to consider what Rythian's saying. "Given that I'm not exactly familiar with wounds unless it's causing them." Rythian has to chuckle at that, relieved that if Will's managing to joke around, then he's not beating himself up anymore and appears to be wholly reassured by Rythian's words.

"You should stop by sometime and say hi to Lalna. I think he'd appreciate it."

"We'll see. I got a couple more deliveries to make before I can find time to head out over there."

\--

Much to Lalnable's horror, he discovers that he doesn't mind Rythian's dislike of him all that much. Lalnable is not about to go changing himself anytime soon for someone (especially not Lalna) because old habits die hard. He's also not about to go sucking up to Rythian based off what Lalna had told him (how they'd met and so forth).

There's also the knowledge that Rythian can take care of himself and Lalna (his shoddy patchwork job on Lalna gives him pause though). 

Lalnable is also wary of but curious about the Siren called Nanosounds in their company. He knows there's a line he has yet to cross, not quite fancying the idea of finding out the consequences if and when when he does. 

Lalnable screws in the last panel of Lalna's new arm with more force than necessary before cursing when he realizes that he's forgotten to connect the cables underneath it to the rest of the arm. 

He is exceptionally grumpy by the time he goes outside to clear his head, spotting Lalna on his back under the bandit technical truck (a monstrosity sporting a buzzsaw turret with a hideous purple paint job), somehow managing to calibrate the technical with only one functional arm. Nanosounds is perched on the turret, testing the buzzsaw as Lalna instructs her to. 

Rythian is skinning and gutting skags not too far from the technical. Lalnable leans against the wall, watching the scene.

He's not the only one watching, considering Rythian is watching the other two like a hawk and by extension, Lalnable as well. Rythian's expression vacillates between thought, fondness, concentration and open hostility. The last is largely directed towards Lalnable, until Nanosounds catches Rythian's glare and mimes a punching gesture. 

Rythian slowly shakes his head in response. Lalnable is the slightest bit surprised Rythian doesn't take up on her generous offer to punch him (feeling just the tiniest bit of gratitude at being spared pain).

There are three possible choices which Lalnable carefully considers. 

One is to apologize, however insincere it comes off as (even if he means it) and probably get punched for it. The second is to kick Lalna and his merry band out now so he doesn't have to deal with this bullshit. Lalnable opts for the third option because the other two are simply unpleasant and he doesn't enjoy entertaining the thought of damage control if Lalna takes offense to his prickliness.

It's just been one unfortunate series of events, one after the other. First, his medical license being suspended. Second, being forced to cut his hair and pose as Lalna (something he'd been attempting to avoid his entire life, but fate really has it out for him these days) to safely escape a series of lawsuits. Of course some people would be ungrateful for him saving their lives, even if he did procure their new organs in a somewhat legally questionable manner. 

Third, having to hide on this hellhole of a planet until he can return home. Fourth, finding out that Lalna is here and almost died. Fifth? Still feeling old resentment towards Lalna for how their conversation had gone once things had calmed down, though he tries not to let it stop him from treating Lalna and Rythian. Lalna pretending that they're still on good terms irks him to no end. 

It occurs to Lalnable that he might be frustrated since arriving on Pandora and is simply taking it out on Rythian and Lalna (Nanosounds is out of the question, considering her abilities and desire to retaliate). 

The other explanation is that he's jealous of Lalna's happiness. Lalna's always been more of a people person than he is. He accepts this second, possible explanation without an argument for once, taping a note labeled 'possible minor psychological inconveniences' to it. 

He has more pressing concerns to attend to, liking putting the final pieces of Lalna's new arm together and thinking up a method of how to apologize to Rythian without getting punched by him or Nanosounds.

\--

Lalna spends exactly ten minutes admiring his new arm and another fifteen simply flexing the digits, testing out the connections and fulfilling the preliminary checks Lalnable walks him through. Lalnable doesn't have to ask if Lalna loves his new arm, already seeing the expression of wonder play out on Lalna's face.

Lalnable allows himself to smile just this once in front of Lalna. 

Lalna looks at him, mouthing 'are we good now?', fear shading his features. He looks like he's expecting a response (no matter what it is, he'll have to accept it). Lalnable can't bring himself to shake his head, nodding, past transgressions be damned, forgiven just like that. 

It's just as much as his fault.

Lalna slides off the workbench and gathers up Lalna in a bear hug, almost crushing the wind out of him. Lalnable awkwardly pats him on the back (also, why is he so bad with hugs), sensing relief and a heavy burden being lifted off of both their shoulders. When Lalna lets go, he may or may not have tears in his eyes. 

Lalnable pulls a tissue out from his inventory and hands it to him. Lalna daintily dabs at his eyes with it. 

"If you want to cry, go ahead," Lalnable says. "But I need you to go tell or haul Rythian in here for a check up, even if he doesn't like me." Lalna tosses the tissue into a bin before patting Lalnable's shoulder.

"Rythian's not that bad once you get to know him," Lalna says. "He was the same way towards me at first. Hey, you really do care about others." Lalna beams with pride. Lalnable lets out an indignant huff, because that is really not the case (even though deep down, he knows Lalna is somewhat right).

"I don't care if he doesn't like me but I'm not demanding a check up because I'm going soft, it's because I want to make sure that Rythian's eyes aren't going to explode next." He's stretching the truth slightly but Lalna isn't going to think that Lalnable's pulling his leg until it's too late.

Lalna looks at him with such horror that he rushes out to immediately go find Rythian. Lalnable is cheered up somewhat by his horror and a little bit touched by his concern.

\--

Lalnable was born five seconds later than Lalna by chance.

It seems like the universe already hates him, because by the virtue of being twins and being the younger one, Lalnable is forever burdened by having a middle name he hates so their parents can differentiate them. Lalna calls him 'Hector' whenever he wants to be an asshole. Source of tension number one and the cause of many of their childhood fights.

The second is their choice of careers. By another quirk of the universe, Lalnable has an uncanny knack for cutting into people, sorting out their internal problems and stitching them back up. In comparison, Lalna would much rather tinker with machines and robotics and is queasy at the idea of cutting into someone, even if they're dead to begin with.

The third issue is tied to the second source of tension. Lalnable doesn't exactly play by the rules when it comes to saving others. He had thought Lalna had been the same, considering how often they'd swapped places and back again in extenuating circumstances (not even their parents had caught on and long before Lalnable had started to hate impersonating Lalna, even if Lalna tried to wheedle him into doing so). 

He'd thought wrong. 

The last time they'd talked through their ECHO devices, it'd ended on a sour note. It'd started with Lalnable's inability to considering the higher moral ground when it came to doing his job. What did he think he was playing at, working for medical hospital known to pilfer organs from dead patients to keep the black market stocked? 

Somehow, it'd mutated into an argument about Lalna graduating with such a shit degree (engineering and robotics), so he can't exactly get a job that makes a difference like Lalnable's job does, to Lalnable's lack of a conscience and Lalna not being much better, because wouldn't he simply be able to replace his empty brain with something that actually works?

They'd cut the call to one another on such sharp, broken silence, too upset to do anything but sit and stare at their ECHO, the rush of blood far too loud in their ears and heart pounding in their chest (did I just really say that? He'll never talk to me again).

\--

Lalna loses his arm.

Lalnable offers to obtain Lalna a state of the art arm prosthetic, to enroll him in a pilot study to test out a prototype. It's a genuine apology of sorts, because Lalnable knows no other way to say sorry, feeling words are (and have always been) inadequate.

Once upon a time, Lalna would have jumped at the chance. 

He declines and cuts the ECHO call short before Lalnable can respond.

It cuts them both deeply in a way they'd never been able to harm one another before (scratches, nicks, bruises and punches, what are those in comparison to barbed words and radio silence?).

Lalna knows exactly what's doing, but by the time he starts to feel the faintest pangs of regret months later, long after he's gotten used to his new arm (sourced from another manufacturer, less fancier than the one Lalnable offered but more easy to jailbreak and customize), it's already too late.

Reconciliation attempts and interventions from parental units are an utter failure.

Cue months passing with no sign of contact imminent and radio silence, even though the two check their ECHO devices for some sort of message from the other, hoping for some sign of reconciliation. Neither of them take the first step to reach out again (their stubbornness a shared trait).

\--

Rythian may not be so bad as Lalna said, but he is as sure hell, not fucking punctual.

Lalnable's been waiting for a hour in his laboratory, drumming his fingers against the table and after checking his tools for the umpteenth time, he's throughly bored out of his skull and would like to very much do something else (something productive) aside from wait.

When he's about to give up and relocate, Rythian walks in.

They stare at each other, Lalnable's expression neutral and Rythian looking like he'd rather be elsewhere. 

"Sit," Lalnable manages, settling on a casual tone even as the air grows thick with unresolved tension between the two of them. 

Rythian doesn't say anything, choosing to sit in the chair closest to the door as he pulls on clean gloves and picks up one of his tools. This time, Lalnable is actually at eye level with Rythian. Whether Rythian intended it that way or not, he doesn't know. It does however, make his job much easier. Lalnable pulls down his goggles, the HUD flickering to life.

"Don't blink if you can help it." He runs the scanner over Rythian's eyes, aiming for the little black symbol on the side of Rythian's forehead, not quite touching it but close enough for the scanner to link to it. Rythian doesn't blink. 

Surprisingly, for such aged implants, Rythian's eyes are actually in quite good condition, not a single wire or circuit out of place. Lalnable runs the diagnostics program, collecting the biometrics data and crunching the results which flood the HUD on his goggles.

"I'm surprised your eyes are actually in perfect working condition," Lalnable can't help but say in a mocking tone (he really can't help himself). Rythian's impassive gaze just grows the tiniest bit frostier, adding another degree of tension to the air. 

Lalnable flicks a small torch over both of Rythian's eyes, watching his pupils constrict and dilate in turn. It checks out fine, though that last test had been to confirm the data. Just to be sure, Lalnable runs the diagnostics one more time which comes up clean. Rythian bears all this in patient silence.

Lalnable realizes he's doing this for Lalna more so than in lieu of an apology to Rythian, because some small part of him actually cares about Lalna. He'll squash that sentimental part of him one day but for now, it can live because he doesn't quite feel like sparing the effort to do so. 

Lalna talks about them all so fondly. Even though Lalnable doesn't understand why he wants to go cavorting around Pandora (shooting guns and being shot at in return), Lalnable is not so petty as to sabotage Lalna's happiness; not in such a crude fashion through one of his friends, at any rate, no matter how tempting the possibility once was.

"If your eyes do malfunction, would you consider carrying around a calibration tool for self maintenance?" Lalnable tosses the scanner and torch back onto the bench. 

"No," Rythian responds flatly, not even taking the time to think about it. Lalnable suspects that he already has one but it's not within his business to check.

"Fair enough. You know where I live anyway," Lalnable gives him a smirk as he peels off the gloves and discards them. "You're free to go."

He also realizes later that Rythian would have declined the check-up if it hadn't been Lalna asking him to go and that in doing so, Rythian's accepted his apology.

\--

"You should get some more sleep. You look like you've had several rough nights," Lalna observes, climbing into the back of the technical.

Lalnable shoots him a sharp look. "It's because of your maintenance causing the technical backfire at the most ungodly hours. What kind of maintenance are you performing, because it doesn't appear to be working."

Lalna just laughs. "Sorry about that, I'll work on it. Thanks for your help and for putting us up."

"Take care of Lalna and Rythian. I don't know when I'll be seeing them next if something goes wrong, but I'll charge accordingly next time." Lalnable says to Nanosounds. She tilts her head to consider him once she's seated in the turret.

She proceeds to give him a knowing smile and he knows that she interpreted his gesture with the card correctly; it's good to know that he hadn't initially misjudged her character despite his misgivings at the start. "I will." There is resolve in her voice. It reassures Lalnable that Lalna will be in good hands. 

Lalnable looks to Rythian to find Rythian staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Lalnable breaks the staring by closing his eyes and heaving a sigh, muttering brusquely, "Try not to rip your stitches out due to being an inept Vault Hunter. Let them naturally dissolve or come back here so I can take them out. You too, Lalna."

Rythian moves around the front, starting up the technical. He does nod to Lalnable though and Lalnable has a feeling that Rythian is still inclined to punch him but only slightly less so.

"I'll pay you back for the parts I used up!" Lalna shouts as the technical disappears from his sight. He's gone before Lalnable can tell him that he doesn't have to.

Some of the parts had been scavenged from other prosthetics that had found their way to him. He doubts it wouldn't hurt Lalna to not know. 

Besides, some of them had been legally purchased online, so that balances it out.

\--

When he knows that they're long gone with no chance of returning, Lalnable fishes out some rakk ale he didn't think he'd needed but kept it on hand for some of his more unruly patients in lieu of painkillers.

Lalnable is far from anybody who he can actually sympathize with him; he's just fixed his relationship with his twin so cluing Lalna into his thoughts and problems doesn't sit well with him, even if Lalna is sympathetic. He's also not about to pull up his ECHO and call the first person on his contacts list to garner pity.

So he gets drunk instead.

He's midway through his second bottle when he hears a knock on his front door. After the knocking becomes rather persistent, Lalnable slides off his chair and staggers to the door, yanking it open to face another Vault Hunter that matches the description of Will Strife that Lalna had given him.

\--

Will Strife looks down at Lalnable, who is squinting at him with suspicion.

Okay, it'd taken Will his sweet time to get to Lalnable's clinic and he'd arrived at the worst hour possible due to the bodies of badass skags being strewn all over the road. Their bodies had made it difficult for him to drive properly without maneuvering his technical onto the side of the road, slowing down considerably to avoid flipping his ride due to going too fast. 

"Package for you." Will Strife conjures up a clipboard and holds it out to Lalnable, who just scrawls a messy signature and takes the package. He doesn't expect Lalnable to gesture towards the open door and invite him in but Lalnable does. 

"Skags are out in full at this hour, you're better off sparing a burst tire if you stay here for tonight." Will's about to protest but then he realizes that Lalnable's right. 

The last thing he needs is having to deal with an out of control truck with hungry skags in hot pursuit. They are notorious for taking down unprepared convoys with just their teeth and surprisingly accurate projectile vomiting. He's also more confident with handling his hover-bike than a technical when under pressure.

Will Strife follows Lalnable indoors. He notes the empty bottles of rakk ale near one of the tables but doesn't say anything about it. Lalnable disappears with the package and returns, taking his seat once more at the front desk doubling as his makeshift bar.

"There's spare beds in the next room," Lalnable informs him with the grace of a mostly sober person. 

Will Strife takes a look in the next room, grateful that he won't end up with a sore back from sleeping in the driver's seat or on bumpy ground (as he's been forced to do so more times than he's really comfortable with). While he knows Lalnable is quite a character based off of what the others had told him, Lalnable's just given him a place to stay for the night without any strings attached. He's beginning to think the others had been exaggerating.

On the other hand, Will certainly didn't expect to find Lalnable drinking after the others had insisted he come out this way to make good on Lalna's promise to replace what he'd used up for his new arm. Will is glad for a chance to help given his absence during such a crucial event. 

Will is about to excuse himself when Lalnable motions to a spare seat next to him. "You can join me if you want. The rakk ale is on the house. Also, sharing is caring," He deadpans. He leaves an unopened bottle on the table above the empty seat. 

Will Strife evaluates his choices then decides that he deserves a drink. He's never tried rakk ale before on the account of never picking up the nerve or having the time to drop by a bar to even experience the local drinks menu. The others did warn him not to accept a drink from Ravs unless he truly wants to be knocked out for the next three hours. So, he figures, the rakk ale not brewed by Ravs is going to be safe. Mostly.

Will slides into the seat next to Lalnable. He uncaps the bottle and takes his first sip of rakk ale. It hits his tongue with the combined explosion of spice, tempered wood and the likeness of liquid he can't exactly put into coherent words. Will makes a face. Lalnable chuckles at his expression, taking another pull from his bottle. 

"So, what's the occasion?" Will ventures forth before attempting another sip of the rakk ale. He also fails to hide another dour look from tasting such unrefined alcohol. 

"It's complicated," Lalnable responds, his fingers tightening around the neck of the bottle in his grip.

"Try me."

"I may have," Lalnable starts, then stops, looking at him as if unsure whether to dump their personal problems onto a complete stranger. 

"Go on," Will encourages, nodding slowly, because Will Strife is the master of listening to complete strangers and he feels like he owes it to Lalnable for letting him have free room for Will playing deliveryman, which sort of says a lot about Lalnable and Will Strife. Also, Will is sure his tolerance is stronger than this. Either that or he underestimated how much alcohol rakk ale contains. 

"I may have been an asshole due to some things that happened between myself and Lalna and due to some stuff that happened before arriving here on Pandora. So I take it out on him and his friend when they showed up." Surprisingly, Lalnable is mostly articulate, his explanation making sense to Will. "In my defense, I should also point that I'm not that bad compared to the rest of Pandora as his friend should know."

"You make an excellent point. There are bigger assholes on Pandora," Will agrees, keeping as much of a straight face as possible as to let Lalnable know he's serious about listening even if he's tempted to make another face due to the rakk ale. "You also did save their lives."

"Doesn't change the fact that I should have been a better person about it." Lalnable finishes off the rest of the bottle before slamming it down on the table and causing the bottles around his feet to clink and gently roll around on the floor from the impact. "And now, I am getting drunk out of my skull and venting to a complete stranger. That about concludes it," Lalnable finishes, putting his head in his hands.

"I was going to suggest finding someone more qualified to talk about this with, but then I remember we're on Pandora," Will admits, chuckling. Lalnable actually chuckles. "In any case, I offer you my condolences." There's a brief though not uncomfortable pause where Lalnable opens up another bottle and Will steadily drinks his own. Eventually, Will turns to him. 

"Why didn't you just straight up apologize and explain?"

Lalnable opens his mouth, then closes it. "Because I don't want to look like an idiot. Or be rejected in a humiliating manner and have to remember it for the rest of my life and be hung up on how I could have done things differently." 

He doesn't mention Lalna possibly holding it over his head as ammunition for their next argument, even if Lalna seems to be a better person about this whole thing when it's himself he should be concerned with.

"Lalna and Rythian appear to have accepted your apology so you don't need to worry about Nanosounds punching you or continuing to beat yourself up." Will points out, though not in an unkind manner. "I don't know about the rest. Have you considered actually talking to Lalna about it?"

Lalnable looks like he's actually contemplating doing so before he shoots Will a look. "Not happening."

Will opts for another tactic, not at all deterred. "Perhaps you're in need of more social interaction. Have you considered not being an asshole?"

"...You have a good point," Lalnable concedes.

"I'll give you my ECHO. How's that for a start? So if you feel like drinking again, ECHO me and we'll talk it out." Will pulls up his HUD and looks at Lalnable for confirmation. "You haven't acted like an asshole the entire time we talked so that's a start." 

Lalnable scrubs a hand over his face. He pulls up his own HUD, submitting a mutual contact request. Will's HUD blips in the corner. He adds Lalnable and shoots a pleased smile at him, closing his HUD. Lalnable tentatively returns it, though pretends to scowl after.

\--

In the morning, Lalnable finds Will Strife nursing a hangover in the waiting room, almost bent double over in one of the chairs.

"I thought you'd have scampered by now," Lalnable notes. Will starts, reaching for a gun, but stops and relaxes when he sees it's just Lalnable.

"Why does the aftertaste of rakk ale taste even worse in the morning, that's just wrong," Will groans, rubbing the bridge of his nose with long fingers. Lalnable goes into the kitchen, handing him a cup of water and an aspirin, which Will drowns gratefully.

"That is entirely my fault for procuring such poor tasting rakk ale and won't hold it against you if you blame me," Lalnable says, sipping at his warm cup of coffee.

"I got a new friend out of it, so it's fine." Will waves a dismissive hand.

"If you need medical attention, just drop by. I'm usually not that busy as you can see," Lalnable spreads their hands to indicate the empty waiting room. "Until somebody starts a riot, in which case, I'm swamped for the next week or so. Sometimes I wonder why I became a doctor."

"Because of that warm, fuzzy feeling you get in your chest when you save somebody's life?"

"Nope, I just like poking needles into people and digging around their insides for fun," Lalnable deadpans.

"That's just sick." Will stands up, chuckling at his pun. He then peers closely at him with far too much concern for somebody Lalnable's just met. "Will you be okay though, after last night?" 

Lalnable dismisses him with a wave of his hand. "I'll live. Nothing new and I'm used to wrestling with a conscious."

Lalnable walks Will Strife to his technical, bidding Will a goodbye as Will Strife backs up and turns the technical towards the road. He leans out for one last comment.

"You should really think of moving somewhere with more people, it'll be good for you!" Strife notes, then pulls his sunglasses down before taking off down the road in a trail of dust and engine roaring.

"Maybe I should," Lalnable muses once Strife is out of earshot. "Nah, too much effort."

\--

Will Strife sends him a link to a dating site three hours later with the message, 'You're a hot doctor, half these people are interested in an extremely up close and personal medical examination so I'm sure you'll find somebody who shares your sick taste in tender loving care.'

Lalnable is torn between being flattered at Strife calling him a 'hot doctor' or annoyed at his meddling. 

He shoots back a message of 'I'll sign up only if you do so as well'. 

Thirty minutes later, Strife responds with a link to his profile. Lalnable proceeds to submit a public comment with 'nobody sleep with this man, he has a rash somewhere private, trust me, im his doctor', and waits for Will to react.

**Author's Note:**

> FIRST BEYOND THE BORDERLANDS FIC. you'll know where this falls, timeline wise, once later chapters of the last vault hunter are released. this monstrosity clocks in around at 12,000 words. 
> 
> i decided to play around with the tropes of evil clone and twin for lalnable hector while writing out this chapter. i'm going to point out that lalnable isn't necessarily 'evil' considering how the borderlands canon operates in regards to a lack of black and white morality. interestingly enough, the borderlands parallel for lalnable is dr zed. 
> 
> i also did my best to incorporate what i know of lalnable from the flux buddies and the other series he pops up in from time to time while making him his own character (while addressing some of the issues that pops up in yogscast canon what with being a clone and all that jazz). i hope that really came through in this fic. 
> 
> trivia: lalnable and rythian's relationship is actually closer to what rythian has with lalna in the tekkit and blackrock chronicles series. nanosounds still very much wants to punch lalnable (which would probably make rythian and nanosounds day and make lalna a very sad lalna but WORTH IT). hilariously enough, will is the only person out of the main vault hunters who actually gets along with lalnable, which may or may not be a good thing.
> 
> that about concludes what i wanted to write for end of chapter notes. AS ALWAYS, let me know if there are any typos, errors, comments, feedback or thoughts or etc. 
> 
> the chapter doodle is over [here](http://borderlandscast.tumblr.com/post/125251120604/i-found-my-old-sketchbook-the-other-day-when-doing), drawn by the lovely [siins](http://siins.tumblr.com)!
> 
> p.s. when ravs meets lalnable for the first time, lalnable doesn't even bat an eyelid when ravs flirts with him. ravs is floored and develops a baby crush on lalnable. don’t worry, ravs flirts with everybody at least once when he meets them, so.


End file.
